Situated on the East Cape a short drive from the colonial city of San Jose del Cabo, the resort community of Puerto Los Cabos functioned as a hybrid venue for more than 10 years, with a pair of nine-hole courses designed by Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman.

Nicklaus returned in 2017 to build his long-awaited second nine at the club. Opened for resort play in April 2018, the new holes emulate the original design style. Subtly contoured greens, large sculpted bunkers and dramatic elevation changes mark the recent additions. Now a 27-hole facility, the club offers three 18-hole combinations to members, resort guests and daily-fee play.

The opening stretch on the new nine, routed at sea level and swept by gentle breezes, is designed to get players off to a good start. The picturesque closing stretch—holes 6 through 9—ascends to higher ground and presents a formidable challenge. Exacting approach shots to hilltop greens are required at the par-4 sixth and seventh holes.

The new par-5 ninth, which occupies the corridor of the former 10th hole but plays in the opposite direction offers a wide fairway that tumbles downhill to a green flanked on the right by a pond.

Nicklaus also built a new 10th hole, this one a testing 541-yard par 5 that skirts a winding arroyo and rises to a well-protected green.

On the original nine, Nicklaus recast the former par-5 14th as the new par-4 fifth hole by sliding the tee boxes to the left to straighten and shorten the hole. A links-style creation with a fine view of the sea behind the dune-framed green, the fifth is the number-one handicap hole on the Nicklaus I & II Course.

The Norman Course, a 3,590-yard layout that will one day be joined by a second nine and will serve as a private club for community homeowners, has over 400 feet of elevation change. With its large, flashed-faced bunkers used to signpost the fairways and defend the greens, the layout reveals Norman’s fondness for Australia’s classic Sandbelt courses.